Nail-cutting machine



(-No model.)

W. WIGKERSHAM.

NAIL CUTTING MACHINE.

Patented Jan. 2, 1883.

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. Urvrre STATES ATEN'r Farce.

NAIL-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,904, dated January 2-, 185 3.

Application filed December 7, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM WIGKER- SHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement on the Feed for Nailting-Gutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement on a feed for feeding the nail-plate in a nail-cutting machine, in' which the said plate is fed toward the cutters (which out said plate into nails) by means of an irregular screw, the thread of which is so constructed that itwill hold the nail-plate firmly while a series of nails are being cut thorelrom, yet relieve the cutters by positively raising the sheet up a little as the said cutters move back under the edge of the plate from which a series of nails has just been cut, therebypreventing the cutters from being nicked or their edges from being broken by the edge of the sheet as they move back under it.

In a patent granted to me February 1, 1879, I had this purpose effected or partly effected by a recess in the under side of the screwthread admitting or allowing the sheet to move up as the cutters passed back'under its edge; but I tind that this device is not so certain in its operation and not so reliable as a positive motion, which my invention herein described gives.

In my drawings, Figure I shows a plan or surface view of the feed-screw. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of the saute, and Fig. 3 shows the nail-plate.

a a a a show the inclined part of tlte scre\v-- threads, which have the function of feeding the sheet downward as the feedshaft revolves, the outer edges of these screw-threads working in the notches a a a of the nail-plate.

I) b I) represent the straight pat-tot'the thread, which holds the sheet firmly in its position while a series of nails are out, and as the feedshaft revolves the parts of the feed-thread c c 0 come to the nail-plate and elevate said plate a little just as the cutters begin to move backward after having cut one series of nails, so

that by its elevated position, to which the nailplate is raised and held by the feed-threads while the cutters are receding, said cutters will be free from any danger of damage by the pressure of the edge of the sheet while passing under it.

My invention operates in the following manner: The nailplate is supposed to havenotches cut in its edge by the screw-thread, (in a way already known,) in which-thefeed-threads work in feedingthesheetdown to the cutters. First, the part of the thread a a a comes into the notches a a a of the nail-sheet, and as these areinclined the sheet will be fed downward as the feed-shaft revolves, and this part is performed while the sheet is clear of the cutters. Next, as the feed-shalt progresses the straight part of threads I) b I) come into the notches a. a a of the sheet and hold it permanently while a series of nails are being cut, and when this cutting is completed the part of the threads 0 c c which are elevated come into said notches a at a and elevate the sheet, thereby relieving the cutters from any chance of damage as they tnove under it.

As the elevated part of the feed-thread c c c, in connection with the other parts of said thread, is the only thing on which I rest my claim, I do not deem it necessary to describe any other parts of the nail-machine. I will therefore state my claim as follows:

I claim In nail-cutting machines, a feed-screw for feeding the nail-plate toward the cutters, having its threads partof the way round inclined,

as at a a a to feed the nail-plate toward the cutters, and having another part straight or without incline, as at b b b, to hold the sheet in position whilea series of nails are cut, and a third part of said thread straight and without incline, (except asmall portion at each end,) but elevated, as at c c c, as a device to elevate the nail-plate, in the manner and for the purpose herein described.

WILLIAM WICKERSHAM.

Witnesses: e

E. J. SWEET, J.-B. SMITH. 

